Anthony's Idea
by Art-Over-Matter
Summary: A seventeen-year-old Ian isn't in the best of moods, so Anthony decides to take him on a road trip in order to cheer him up. Rated T for swearing and general activities that I don't advise you to try at home.


Ian wasn't crying when he left. But he felt like he could have.

This wasn't the first time he'd left his parents' house and run away with the car, wishing he wouldn't have to go back. It wasn't his parents' faults. Maybe it wasn't anyone's fault in particular; it might have summed up to being due to Ian's age, right in between when puberty really started to kicked in and when he was going to be a legal adult.

He started the car—which technically wasn't his, and he didn't technically have permission to drive it—and pulled out of the driveway. There was only one place for him to go now, and he would have never considered anything else.

Anthony's house looked pretty deserted when Ian pulled up to park on the street out front, but he knew Anthony would be there.

He stopped the vehicle's engine and stepped out, going up to the front door and knocking, hard. At this hour, it was likely that Anthony would be in playing a video game of sorts and Ian would have liked to not be waiting forever because Anthony or his mom didn't hear the door.

It was Anthony who answered, which Ian found somewhat surprising.

"Hey man," Anthony said. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know," Ian sighed. "I just wanted to come over."

"Okay." Anthony shrugged. "Well, come on in. My mom just left, but she'll prob'ly be back in an hour or so."

Ian nodded as he kicked off his shoes by the door.

"Were you fighting with your parents?" Anthony asked with a frown.

"No," Ian replied, shaking his head. "I just wasn't…I dunno." He looked up at Anthony, tilting his head so he could see him from under his own long bangs. "I just was done with that place for a little while."

"Sounds legit," Anthony said, probably purposefully echoing something Ian would say to try to make him smile. He only succeeded to some extent. "So what do you wanna do?"

"What were you doing before I came?"

"Playing Super Mario on my DS."

"Exactly what I expected. Well, I'll just find whatever to do."

Anthony shrugged and started to turn away, then looked back as Ian's phone rang. "They on you already?"

Ian frowned, looking at the number. "No, this is my friend. Hang on." He flipped the phone open and turned away to talk. He heard Anthony leave the room behind him.

Anthony couldn't quite figure out what to do about Ian, or if he needed to do anything about him. Something was clearly upsetting him, but Anthony didn't know if there was anything he could do to help.

He played a few more levels of Super Mario 64 before Ian came back in. Anthony paused the game and looked up as Ian angrily slammed his phone down on the coffee table and sat down.

"What's up?" Anthony asked.

"I don't even know," Ian answered, frustrated. "He was just being a dick. Hell, everyone at school has been being a dick lately. I have no idea why. It's like one day I had friends, and now I don't."

Anthony tried not to think too hard about the fact that Ian wasn't even considering him when he said that. "Sorry, man." He flipped his hair out of his eyes. "It's just a phase they're going through. It's nothing you did."

"Well god, you'd never know," Ian said, looking at his lap. "Whatever. I guess you're right."

"You know, I have an idea," Anthony said, starting to get excited. "I know what we should do."

"What?"

"Go get in my car. I'm gonna write a note to my mom real quick and then I'll be out."

"Where are we going?"

"Nowhere," Anthony replied. "That's the point. Just go get in the car."

"What the fuck? We're just going to sit the car and not go anywhere?"

Anthony shook his head but ignored any more questions from his friend. He grabbed some spare paper that was lying around and a pen, and wrote:

_Mom,_

_Me and Ian are going out to drive around for a while. Don't know when exactly we'll be back. Probably before midnight. Ian drove his parents car here so if they call wanting it you'll know where it is. I'll drive Ian home._

_-Anthony_

He left the note on the table and grabbed his car keys on the way out the door. While Anthony was writing, Ian had given in and left to get in the car, so he was sitting shotgun when Anthony opened the car door.

"Where are we going, Anthony?" Ian asked, exasperated.

"We're not going anywhere. We're just going to drive and see how things end up. I'm doing this for you, man. And my mom's probably not gonna be too pleased about us just leaving like this, so you'd better be nice."

"How long are you planning to be gone?"

"No idea." Anthony turned to look behind him as he backed out of the driveway.

"You really have no plan for any of this, do you?"

"Nope."

Ian and Anthony didn't do much during the first part of their drive. The sun was setting and they were driving toward it, on the highway leaving Sacramento. Ian was no longer questioning their plan or destination; he was just enjoying the fact that he was miles away from home and his asshole friends, and enjoying that Anthony had come up with this idea.

"Shit, man, I've gotta stop for gas. You bring money?"

"No, dude, why the hell would I have money? I don't bring money to your house."

"Well then where am I supposed get my weekly income?" Anthony said, playing serious. "Your mom's vagina?"

Ian frowned. "That doesn't even make sense."

"Okay, so that was a shitty joke. But seriously, my car needs gas."

"Any chance there's some in the back?"

Anthony shrugged. "I have no idea what could be back there."

Ian was mildly amused as he unbuckled his seatbelt and crawled onto the console between their seats, trying to see in the dim back of the vehicle.

"I'm not seeing much of anything back here. Except an empty soda can."

"Fuck."

"Hang on," Ian said, spotting something and trying to reach for it. As Anthony turned the car around a slow bend in the road, Ian nearly lost his balance.

"Dude!" Anthony cried indignantly. "Get your ass out of my face!"

"Sorry," Ian said, not sounding that sorry. "Just—trying to—get—this! Got it!"

"Please tell me it's money."

"One dollar," Ian said matter-of-factly, awkwardly backing up and settling back down in his seat.

"Shit, that's barely enough for one gallon! Hell, not even enough!"

"That's all that was back there, dude."

"Well, fuck. It'll have to work. Now where's the next gas station? Do you know?"

"I haven't been up this way in a while, so no idea. How low are you?"

"Lower than I want to be," Anthony said, cringing a little bit.

They kept driving for several minutes, searching for a gas station. The farther they got from the depths of the city, the less likely it became that they'd find it. Eventually, Anthony pulled off the highway.

"I'm kinda scared now, man. I've never actually run this car so low on fuel. I thought I saw a sign for gas back there so I'm going to try to go this way."

"Well, if we run out of gas, we just…uh…I really have no idea what we'd do. Call your mom, I guess."

"That would suck balls. Let's try to avoid it."

A few minutes later, Anthony's car engine started sounding different. It started to grind and sputter slightly. Then it shut off completely.

"Oh, shit!" Anthony shouted at it.

The car kept rolling. There was no one driving behind them, fortunately, but they were on a road and Anthony was having a hell of a time making the Ford turn.

"Fuck, come on," he muttered to himself. He started doing that sometimes, Ian noticed, when he was nervous. "Just turn."

The old car drifted finally, due to his steering, and rolled to a stop on the gravel at the side of the road. The area was pretty deserted, except for a few houses and a run-down looking school with a chain-link fence around it. It was not the sort of place Ian wanted to be stranded in.

"Fuck," Anthony said, and he put his head down on the steering wheel, causing the car to honk.

Ian peered at the road in front of them from under his long bangs. "I think there's a sign for gas up there. It won't be any kind of station, but at this point we need it from a can anyway. Unless you wanna push the car all the way there."

Anthony didn't move. "God, Ian," he said to his feet. "I don't know. Should we try to go walk to find somewhere to buy the gas? I mean, we only have a fucking dollar anyway."

"That's true," Ian said unhelpfully. "Oh, a dollar and a quarter. I found a quarter in the car door."

"Thanks," Anthony said dryly, looking up.

They sat in silence, considering their shitty situation for a little while before Ian said, "Okay, here's the deal. You stay here with the car while I go walk a ways to see if there's actually gas up there. If there is, I buy what we can afford and we see if we can make it back on that. If there isn't or it's too far away, we say fuck it and call your mom."

"What if we can't make it back on what we buy?"

"Then we say fuck it and call your mom."

Anthony considered, then shrugged. "Works with me. Just…make it quick."

"'Kay." Ian got out of the car, grabbed their one dollar and twenty-five cents, and started to head off down the road.

It took Anthony about five minutes to start to realize that maybe sending Ian off on his own to get the gasoline wasn't actually the best idea. It was pretty much dark now, though the sky still held some azure tints to the west. They had no idea where they were and Ian hadn't taken anything with him except the money and his phone.

Things just sounded worse and worse.

Anthony ran a hand through his long shaggy hair and tried not to worry about their situation. Seriously, what was the likelihood of them being mugged? Or mauled in any way?

Actually, he had no idea.

A single car passed Anthony, driving by without a single indication of its driver considering that he needed help. It was then that Anthony started to realize how alone he was. He'd sent Ian off, also on his own, and was sitting in an unlocked car with no engine function on a dark road in the middle of nowhere. There were some houses around, but no lights on in any of the windows.

_Oh, Jesus. This actually could be terrible. This was a horrible idea._

Anthony peered outside the car, into the darkness where the few streetlights didn't reach, and started to panic. Everything was so open, and so empty, yet he was trapped in the little car, alone….

_Don't hyperventilate. Everything's okay, _he tried to tell himself.

His panic attack was starting to get really bad when he heard the noise outside his car. He had his head in his hands and his fingers tangled in his chocolate hair as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm down.

Then something hit the passenger-side door and the door opened. Anthony jumped about a foot in the air as Ian leaned down and said, "I got gas."

"Oh, fuck, Ian," Anthony said, his heart pumping. "God, I thought you were someone here to kill me or something."

"No. But I am really fucking glad I'm back. That was not the funnest walk I've ever had."

Anthony took a while to respond, still a little panicked. "How much did you get?"

"A gallon. I technically didn't have enough and the guy didn't want to let me have it, but I was stubborn enough I talked him into it. He was really exasperated, though. I don't think we're friends."

Anthony smiled slightly, then frowned. "You only got a gallon?"

"Dude, you're lucky I even got this!"

Anthony sighed. "Well, let's fill 'er up."

Ian sat in the car while Anthony put the measly gallon of gas in his Ford Probe. He had a strong feeling that it would not be enough to get them back to his mom's or Ian's house.

But for now, it would have to work.

"Are we gonna head back already?" Ian asked.

"Well, we can't exactly keep going. We'll barely make it back with the gas we have, although if I'm right about this thing's gas mileage, we might be able to make it."

"Yeah." Ian paused. "I don't wanna go back, though."

"I don't really either," Anthony sighed. "I had a better idea of what this was going to be in my head."

"Then let's pull off somewhere and hang around for a little while. No one's making us go back."

"What are we going to do, though?"

"Who cares? You didn't need a plan when this started, why do you need one now?"

"Well, look at where our lack of a plan led us."

"Whatever, dude. I think we should do _something _while we're away."

"Okay," Anthony conceded. "Where do you wanna pull off?"

Anthony turned the Probe off the highway a few minutes later, when they spotted an empty field with a gravel road going through it—a rare sight in a place near Sacramento. It was probably—almost definitely—someone's private road to their house, but the boys decided they didn't really care. They drove along to the middle of the field, where Anthony parked the car and got out.

"Doesn't feel nearly as lonely out here, for some reason," he commented.

Ian nodded. "Yeah, I guess it's because of those buildings across the road. And the road itself."

Anthony sat down and leaned his back against the grill of his car. "So?" he asked Ian. "Was this worth it?"

Ian sat next to him, the car's left headlight shining past his shoulder and its engine vibrating against his back. "I think so. In fact, it was actually pretty awesome. When was the last time we did something like this?"

"I…don't think we've ever done anything like this, Ian."

"Exactly."

They spent the next several hours just sitting, talking, and counting the cars that passed. Anthony had turned his car's engine off and they now sat side by side on the Probe's hood, their backs leaned against the windshield.

"What time is it?" Anthony asked, looking at his wrists to find he didn't have a watch.

Ian glanced at his. "Ten forty-five."

"Jesus! We've been away for four-and-a-half hours!"

"That's what you wanted, right?" Ian said, fiddling with his watch now because he didn't have anything else to entertain him.

"Yeah. It's just there at the beginning when we ran out of gas, I was sure it was going to be cut short."

"Yeah," Ian chuckled. "That was something, huh?"

Anthony smiled.

When they decided it was time to head back, Ian got a stupid idea that they decided to try.

"That's really dumb, you know."

"Yes, but it'll be fun, dude. Come on, let's try."

Shaking his head, Anthony got back in the car and turned it around, facing the way out. He gave Ian a thumbs-up and the younger boy rounded to the back of the car, climbing up and sitting on the car's trunk. He tapped the rear window to signal that Anthony could drive.

Anthony drove pretty slowly, but the gravel road made it kind of hard to stay on the back without sliding. Nevertheless, it was surprisingly fun to do something blatantly idiotic just because no one was there to tell him not to. The wheels rumbled beneath him as the road stretched away, disappearing in the darkness as the red glow of the taillights no longer reached it.

"You should do it," Ian said, grinning as he dropped back down in the passenger's seat.

Anthony considered, then said, "I think not."

"Come on!"

"Nope," he said, pressing the gas again and driving to the paved road again. "Sorry, man. I'm willing to drive you, but I don't think I'm in the mood for that."

"Whatever," Ian said, still in good spirits regardless. "You're missing out."

Anthony smirked a bit and pulled back out onto the highway. "This is for you, man. I'm just along for the ride."

"Yeah," Ian said, contemplative, and the conversation lapsed into silence.

Ian took a moment to consider the insane evening they'd had. From running out of gas to riding on the trunk of the car as Anthony drove down the road, it had been quite an adventure. Best of all, Ian's problems didn't seem quite so significant anymore.

"How long have I known you?" Anthony asked, breaking through Ian's thoughts.

"Uh… seven years. Why?"

Not taking his eyes off the road, Anthony responded, "We're a lot like brothers, you know?"

"Yeah."

"I mean, I have my actual brothers and all, but…that's different somehow. You're like the brother I'm closest to. The one I go do stupid stuff with just 'cause we feel like it."

Ian smiled. "Yep. Think it'll be like that forever? I mean, for a long time?"

Anthony shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Honestly, I'd never really considered anything else."

They spent the rest of the half-hour drive talking about grand plans for their future. They really had no idea what they were going to do with their lives, but Ian could tell Anthony was set on doing something involving video games. They talked about how maybe they should start filming videos, if they found a camera to use, and see if they could make a little more of a thing.

But whatever they were going to do, they'd do it together.

Anthony drove up to Ian's house and parked by the curb. "You're out."

"'Kay."

They'd managed to make it back with their gallon of gas, but Anthony was pretty sure he would run out by the time he got to his driveway.

"I guess I coulda made you drive yourself, but I wasn't sure if your parents took back their car or not. I told Mom you'd taken it, so…."

"Yeah, it's parked right there on the driveway, so they must have gotten it. I hope I'm not in trouble."

"We'll see. If you get fed up with stuff again, you know where I'll be."

Ian smiled. He started to get out of the car, then turned back and said, "Hey Anthony?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Any time."

Ian shut the car door and, with a little wave, returned to his house.

Anthony felt surprisingly satisfied as he turned the car around and headed back to his own house.

And he decided there really was nothing like solid, genuine friendship. ●


End file.
